Darkest Paradise

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Vanadey POV:

"Please, let me stay a little while longer" he frowns while his beautiful green eyes contend with hope.

I barely notice his sclerae getting a little pinkish tint that makes my heart lurch against my chest in a way I never thought possible. I cupped his cheeks with what little strength I had in my body as I curled my leg around, causing the chains to scrape across the floor.

"Kaden, you know you can't be here with me, it increases the risk of getting caught, how did you even come down here without him noticing?" I questioned as I brushed strands of his brunette hair while he held my bony wrist "You know what he would do if he found out."

His pouting lips trembled as he released a sob into his palm. He rubbed his hand across his cheek to remove the small tear that escaped his teary eyes.

"He's asleep, we have enough time, mom is also calm today and Grendel is in her room changing the heads and arms of her dolls" He narrowed his teary eyes thinking "I swear IT reminds me of the boy with braces from Toy Story, next thing she's going to do is wrap their neck with floss and hang them in my room while I sleep."

"Well, at least she's not giving you a hard time,or is she?" I let out a small laugh ignoring the pain in my stomach as I rest my head on the wall and feel my brother rest his head on my shoulder.

"Does being a thorn in my side count as a hard time?" he comments while playing with the tip of my hair.

I gave him a small smile

"I swear Nadir, she is a typhoon in the body of a brat."

"Well, it's better than her acting out" I commented between laughs that caused him to look at me worried.

"Does it hurt a lot?"He asked quietly as if he instantly regretted asking about the new bruises on my stomach and shoulder.

Same shoulder where his head is resting but I swallow back the hiss that wanted to come out of me. It's not often that I get to enjoy his company and I want to make the most of it before anyone notices.

"No" I answered while resting my left cheek on his head, which I noticed was freshly washed due to the wonderful clean smell and because it was still moist.

"Liar" He spat and I felt my heart skip a beat until it stopped for a moment but I acted as if everything was fine "Why do you always lie when it obviously hurts, I'm not a kid anymore" he sobbed "Especially when it's my fault that this happens to you."

My smile faded at those words and I grabbed him by the hand while looking at the stairs.

"That I never hear you say that in front of me again" I know I said it with a harsh tone, maybe it even scared him a little, but it hurts me to hear him blame himself for something that was rigged against him "You have nothing to blame yourself for, what happened was an accident, just that"

He just nodded, dragging his damp hair down my arm.

"I swear that one day I'll get you out of here and we'll be happy together away from this place, only you and possibly bring mom with us" his words made me smile faintly as I rubbed my thumb over his wrist.

"Only one could dream, Kaden" I spoke softly while looking at the ceiling and the dim light that came from under the door of the stairs.

I am attentive to any sound that is close to where we are. I know it's a terrible idea to allow Kaden stay here for too long or even let him into the room. I know the consequences and it hurts more when I also consider that he is aware of it but doesn't care about the consequences of this type of act. He is too stubborn for his age.